Sri Lanka Seeks to Implement a New Constitution

Sri Lanka’s recently elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s political coalition, the National People’s Power (NPP), won an overwhelming amount of support from the majority Sinhalese community as well as the minority Tamil community, receiving a historic supermajority in the November 2024 Parliamentary elections. This broad mandate across ethnic lines presents a historic opportunity to address the constitutional deficiencies that have plagued the nation since independence, particularly the challenges of ethnic conflict and democratic governance. As the country seeks to rebuild after its devastating economic crisis, the lessons from the past attempts at constitutional reform offer crucial insights for crafting meaningful solutions.

On August 3rd, 1995, Sri Lanka’s then-President Chandrika Kumaratunga put forward a constitutional reform proposal known as the “Union of Regions” proposal. To date, it remains the boldest attempt to constitutionally redress the grievances of the minority communities of the nation. Unfortunately, due to political rivalry among the two major Sinhala political parties—and the refusal of the Tamil-separatist rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to engage with the proposals—the constitutional initiative was ultimately torpedoed…..| read more on JURIST news